The Tall
Ship Ale Company produces bottle conditioned ales or beer "On Lees" (On yeast). Since
our products finish conditioning in the bottle, the beer has a built-in
shelf life. It can be stored at room temperature (10--23 degrees C. / 50--74
degrees F.) and will continue to slowly ferment in the bottle, like a fine
wine, for several years.

Beer
Carbonation & Aging

Modern Brewing

Advances in brewing science have allowed brewers to reduce the time required to
produce beer. Most breweries filter and carbonate their beer, bottling
under pressure. This is known as forced carbonation, when CO2
is actually injected into the beer. This allows it to be consumed
as soon as it's packaged. Because no live yeast is left in the beer the
quality begins to fade within months. It is not uncommon for manufacturers
(or their representiatives) to rotate stock and remove old beer since it
usually goes off in flavour within three months

Krausening

A more time-intensive process known as krausening is another way to carbonate
beer. By adding yeast and new beer to finished beer, a refermentation occurs
in the bottle. The yeast sediment acts as a preservative and the beer continues
to age and mature. This is also known as "bottle-conditioning". The
Tall Ship Ale Company uses the krausening technique to create bottle-conditioned
products. The beers we create will be made to last quite well in the bottle,
and some of our beers will be collectable the way wine is, coming into
its own in 2 to 10 years. We build shelf life into every bottle of beer
we make.

Aging Beer

Over time, the yeast interacts with the beer, consuming residual sugars and
changing the beer's ``personality''. It changes quite a bit
in the first six months, the richness of the hops fusing and blending with
the malt flavors to mellow the overall taste profile. Then the real secret
ingredient, time, is applied. The longer the maturing, the more fine and
mellow the flavour.